The Minnesota Vikings missed the perfect opportunity for a total roster teardown one year ago. They won't make the same mistake twice -- and they'll be in better position from a payroll perspective to begin the process than many realize.

As of Monday, according to a source with access to NFL salary data, the Vikings had about $112.4 million in 2012 cap space committed to 57 players on their roster -- including a little more than $110 million to the "Top 51" who will count against the projected $120.4 million cap when the league year begins on March 13.

Roughly $2 million in "dead" money from unamortized bonus proration will be offset by the small amount of unused cap space carried over from 2011, leaving the Vikings more than $10 million under their adjusted 2012 cap. And that's before they even touch the contracts of several veterans who could be restructured or released in the next few weeks.

Dumping guards Steve Hutchinson ($7 million cap number for 2012) and Anthony Herrera ($3,583,335) and cornerback Cedric Griffin ($4.65 million) would give the Vikings another $13 million to work with even after cap hits from two of those deals. None of the three is in the long-term plans of a rebuilding team coming off a 3-13 season.

Tight end Visanthe Shiancoe and linebacker E.J. Henderson top the list of older players likely to walk as the Vikings embrace the overhaul the way they should have after their 2010 flop -- without illusions of patchworking a contender in the interim.

Other restructures could give the Vikings more ammunition to fill at least a couple of their many needs through free agency, with a talented second-contract receiver class the most likely target. They won't be in position to spend with the likes of Tampa Bay, which reportedly is an NFL-high $67 million under the cap, but their hands won't be tied either.

Even last year, when the Vikings were in the unusual position of shedding salary to come into cap compliance after the NFL lockout, vice president of football operations Rob Brzezinski used some creative accounting and bonus mechanisms to make the numbers work. There's no reason to believe general manager Rick Spielman won't have the space he needs this time around.

The Vikings' plans should further clarify beginning later this week, when team officials begin their annual round of conversations with agents for their own players and pending free agents at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis.

The following is a player-by-player breakdown of the 57 players the Vikings have under contract, including scheduled 2012 base salaries, bonuses and likely to be earned incentives (LTBEs), organized in descending order based on cap number (in parentheses):